Thirteen of the 20 companies in the IBO Laboratory Sales Index reported fourth-quarter earnings before this issue’s publication. OI was removed following the acquisition by ITT in November (see IBO 9/15/10).

Based on estimates for companies yet to report, fourth-quarter revenue for the Index improved 6.2%, including a loss of 0.2% from currency, to $5,912.9 million. Operating profit rose 10.0% to $1,258.3 million. Operating margins improved 30 basis points to 20.3% of sales. Full-year revenue and operating profits are projected to have grown 9.0% and 17.6%, respectively.

Affymetrix’s fourth-quarter revenues contracted 4.4% to $84.9 million (see page 12) due to a shift in product mix and weak consumables sales. Product revenue fell 11.2% to account for 85% of sales, including a decline of 11.8% and 6.6% in Consumables and Instruments revenues to $63.4 million and $8.5 million, respectively. Consumables sales were negatively impacted by a shift toward lower-priced array plate formats and a strong year-over-year comparison for RNA sales. RNA and DNA consumables revenues declined 18.9% and 14.0% to $36.4 million and $21.5 million, respectively.

Service revenue, and Royalties and Other sales improved 9.3% and 242.2%, respectively, to each represent 8% of sales. The company recorded a one-time licensing payment during the quarter of $4.8 million. Adjusted operating profit soared 127.2% to $5.2 million following a 17% decline in SG&A expenses. Gross margins fell 250 to 58.1% of sales due to low-volume production and product-mix shift.

Affymetrix’s 2010 revenues fell 5.0% to $310.7 million due to lower research services and discovery-related revenue. Product sales slipped 0.5% to make up 89% of sales, including a 1.4% decline in Consumables revenue to $252.2 million and Instruments revenue growth of 8.7% to $25.5 million. In the Consumables business, RNA revenue fell 8.9% to $147.2 million, while DNA revenue grew 3.0% to $91.3 million, led by Axiom product sales. The number of installed Gene­Atlas systems increased 75%, and the company reported more than 200 installed systems. Service, and Royalties and Other revenues slumped 48.0% and 53.0% to account for 7% and 4% of sales, respectively. Adjusted operating loss narrowed by 83.6% to $5.2 million due to a 13% decline in operating expenses. Gross margins improved 300 basis points to 57.1% of sales. The company projected a 200 basis point increase in gross margins and positive net income for 2011.

Analytik Jena’s fiscal first-quarter sales ending December 31, 2010, grew 10.1% to €23.7 million ($32.1 million = €0.74 = $1) (see page 12). Operating profit increased 15.7% to €2.2 million ($3.0 million), and gross margins improved 310 basis points to 52.5% of sales. Analytical Instrument revenue climbed 17.2% to €14.5 million ($19.6 million) due to strong backlog orders and higher sales of atomic spectrometers. Segment operating profit jumped 53.6% to €1.9 million ($2.6 million). Optics sales rebounded 15.1% to €1.2 million ($1.7 million), and operating profit improved 12.6% to €0.2 million ($0.3 million). Despite strong demand for new PCR products, Life Science revenue slipped 1.4% to €8.0 million ($10.8 million) due to lower H1N1-related sales. Operating profit for the Life Science segment fell 84.9% to €0.1 million ($0.1 million) as a result of higher marketing and product development expenses. Sales within Germany fell 5.5% to account for 34% of revenues. Sales to other European countries and Asia rose 16.2% and 22.1% to represent 28% and 29% of sales, respectively. Sales to America and Rest of World expanded 3.6% and 209.5% to represent 7% and 3% of sales, respectively. For fiscal 2010, the company anticipates higher revenue growth for all three segments.

Fiscal second-quarter sales for Dionex climbed 13.7% to $124.1 million (see page 12). Ion chromatography sales grew 11%, and HPLC sales jumped 21%, including roughly 6%–8% growth from the ESA acquisition (see IBO 9/31/09). North American sales grew 14%, and European sales improved 7%, 11% excluding currency. Sales to Asia/Pacific climbed 22%, 18% on a currency-neutral basis. Operating profit rose 14.4% to $27.5 million due to lower SG&A expenses as a percentage of sales. Gross profit margin declined 100 basis points to 65.1% of sales due to product mix and geographic mix, as well as the acquired products.

For the fourth quarter, Luminex’s revenues improved 7.9% to $41.2 million (see page 12). Consumable and Royalty revenues climbed 48.8% and 26.2% to account for 29% and 15% of sales, respectively. Systems revenue grew 10.7% to make up 25% of sales. The total number of analyzers sold climbed 13.0% to 286, including 34 MAGPIX and 16 FLEXMAP 3D units. In addition, the company shipped 27 BSD sample handling systems. Service contracts and other revenue grew 15.8% to account for 9% of sales. Assay revenue fell 28.3% due to strong H1N1-related Respiratory Viral Panel product sales a year ago. Adjusted operating profit declined 4.1% due to higher R&D and sales and marketing expenses as the company expanded its international infrastructure, especially in Asia. Gross margins improved 220 basis points to 69.4% of sales. Revenue for Technology and Strategic Partnerships grew 23.2% to $30.6 million, and operating income jumped 120.0% to $5.9 million. Sales for Assays and Related Products fell 20.4% to $10.6 million. Segment operating loss was $0.8 million, compared with a profit of $2.6 million due to increased cost of goods sold from the addition of enzymes.

Full-year revenues for Luminex grew 17.3% to $141.6 million. Consumables and Royalty revenues climbed 41.3% and 22.4% to make up 28% and 16% of sales, respectively. Systems and Assay sales grew 7.4% and 3.7%, respectively, to each account for 23% of sales. Service and Other revenue improved 13.7% to represent 10% of sales. Overall, diagnostics revenue accounted for 60% of sales. Revenue from life science research capital equipment made up less than 20%. Adjusted operating profit rose 52.1% to $11.3 million. Gross margins expanded 70 basis points to 68.1% of sales. Technology and Strategic Partnerships revenue grew 20.8% to $105.6 million, and operating income jumped 96.7% to $16.0 million. Revenues for Assays and Related Products increased 8.2% to $36.0 million, but operating loss widened more than sixfold to a loss of $4.7 million. The company projected 2011 revenues to grow 15%–20% to $163–$170 million.

QIAGEN’s fourth-quarter revenues slipped 1.1%, down 3% organically, to $286.0 million. Acquisitions contributed 3% to growth, and currency reduced sales by 1%. Excluding H1N1-related sales and currency, revenues improved 7%, or 4% organically. All of the following figures are at constant exchange rates and exclude H1N1-related sales. Consumables and related revenue improved 8%, and Instrument sales grew 2%. Molecular diagnostics, pharmaceutical, academia and applied testing revenues rose 7%, 11%, 5% and 5% to account for 48%, 21%, 25% and 6% of sales, respectively. Adjusted operating profit fell 2.7% to $78.8 million. Adjusted gross profit margins rose 30 basis points to 71.8% of sales.

QIAGEN’s 2010 revenues grew 7.7%, 4% excluding acquisitions, to $1,087.4 million. Excluding H1N1-related sales, revenues improved 12%, or 8% organically. All figures below are at constant exchange rates and exclude swine flu–related sales. Consumables and related revenue and Instrument sales each grew 12% to account for 85% and 15% of sales, respectively. Molecular diagnostics, academia, pharmaceutical and applied testing revenues grew 14%, 10%, 9% and 22% to account for 48%, 25%, 21% and 6% of sales, respectively. Within molecular diagnostics, Personalized Healthcare, Profiling and Prevention products accounted for 5%, 20% and 23% of company sales, respectively. Sales to the Americas, Europe and Asia grew 8%, 20% and 22% to represent 48%, 38% and 12% of revenues, respectively. Adjusted operating profits rose 2.9% to $294.6 million due to operating efficiencies and product mix. Gross profit margins declined 50 basis points to 71.7% of sales due to currency. The company projected 2011 organic revenues to grow 5%–7% to $1,155 million.

 Column Graph: Quarterly Sales Performance, January 2007—December 2010

 Year Q1   Q2   Q3   Q4

 2007 4570 4579 4814 5364

 2008 5037 5174 5131 5319

 2009 4713 4634 4843 5567

 2010 5243 5048 5321 5913

 Column Graph: Quarterly Operating Profit Margins, January 2007—December 2010

 Year Q1    Q2    Q3    Q4

 2007 16.6% 15.7% 16.5% 19.2%

 2008 17.6% 17.2% 18.1% 19.1%

 2009 17.4% 17.9% 18.3% 20.0%

 2010 19.8% 18.9% 19.8% 20.3%

 Laboratory Instrument Index,  Total                                                     Change

                                       2007          2008        2009       2010         07/08         08/09          09/10% 

 Total Annual Revenues ($M)            $19,326       $20,660     $19,756    $21,524      6.9%          -4.4%          9.0%

 Annual Oper. Profits ($M)             $3,301        $3,719      $3,681     $4,330       12.7%         -1.0%          17.6%

 Annual Oper. Profits (%)              17.1%         18.0%       18.5%      18.1%        -----         -----          -----

 1st Quarter Revenues ($M)             $4,570        $5,037      $4,713     $5,243       10.2%         -6.4%          11.2%

 1st Quarter Oper. Profits ($M)        $757          $881        $822       $1,040       16.4%         -6.6%          26.5%

 1st Quarter Oper. Profits (%)         16.6%         17.6%       17.4%      19.8%        -----         -----          -----

 IBO Laboratory Instrument Sales Index companies: Affymetrix, Agilent Technologies (Chemical Analysis Group, Life Sciences Group), Analytik Jena AG, Bio-Rad Laboratories (Life Science), Bruker, Dionex, Harvard Bioscience, Horiba (Analytical Instruments), Illumina, Life Technologies, Luminex, Oxford Instruments, PerkinElmer, QIAGEN NV, Shimadzu (Analytical and Measuring Instruments), Spectris (Materials Analysis), SDIX, Tecan, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Analytical Technologies) and Waters.